Escape from Tyra
by Faeriegurl
Summary: about a 15 year old girl who is running away to Tortall from a country on the verge of war........
1. Default Chapter Title

  
  
  
  
  
  


Hi everyone, this is my first fan fic. , so please review!! Constructive criticism only please. Anyway, hope ya enjoy it!! Oh, and if you don't know where Tyra is, refer to a book. It's a true blood Tamora Pierce country/

  
  
  
  


~*Chapter 1*~

  
  
  
  
  
  


I always was a bit of a rebel, I guess you could say. Maybe I inherited it from my father. Or maybe I just naturally wanted to do the opposite of what people told me to do. Being sent to finishing school was just an example of my rebel spirit and my temper...............

  
  
  
  


" I'm NOT GOING! WHY SHOULD I LEARN TO PRANCE AROUND LIKE A HORSE ON DISPLAY IF I'M ALREADY GETTING MARRIED ANYWAY."

  
  


" Calm down Aurelia. Lord Daniel of Trescon will certainly not appreciate that tone of voice, nor the noise it you make." 

" Good. Let's just call off the engagement then. No one has to worry about noise around him anyway. He's deaf, and close to dying!!!!"

" You Are marrying him , and that is that. You should be happy that you will have 2 months of freedom before marrying him." 

" Finishing school for freedom? I'd rather be eaten alive by hurroks." 

I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. My Father had to be one of the most stubborn people in Tyra. I hated this country, with all of its rules and punishments. 

" You leave tomorrow. I'd suggest getting a maid to help pack your clothes. If were lucky, perhaps the emperor himself will come."

"I'll run away if you make me marry him, if you make me go to finishing school!" 

He laughed. I glared at him. My father and I had never been close. He lived to make money, and money had come before family. My mother died when I was 5. My father managed to make the countess of grave a public event, and had charged 10 gold pieces for her viewing. Never once did I see him cry. My marriage was just another way for my father to gain money, just another scheme. It wasn't like he actually cared. 

" Aurelia, my darling, you may have the temper of a storm wing and the eye of a hawk, but we both know that the caged bird never sings, and that you will never run away." 

We'll see about that.

  
  


It was night fall when I crept out the window. I had never been much of a climber, and when I was half way down, I fell. Several branches broke my fall, but I still landed painfully on the ground. Fiery pain shot through me. I winced, but got up and tried to walk. Not good. I grimaced, and wished I had the gift. It didn't matter anyway. Only men could be mages in Tyra. Women with the gift were considered outcasts, and were either killed or exiled. I hobbled into the stable. It was a wonder I wasn't forbidden to ride, with all these twisted laws. " Whois it? Show yer self now!" I hid in the shadows. It was Alek, an old man who strongly supported my father. He looked right at me. I stood completely still , hardly daring to breathe. Olipe, the stable cat, jumped right from behind me into the light. " Damn cat." he muttered, and kicked it, causing the cat to yelp. He shuffled away, and blew the lantern out, and left the stable. I let out a sigh of relief, but wasted no time. I scanned the horses. All nickered and greeted me. I grabbed Night Star, a black jeweled stallion who my father was selling to the Tyran emperor for 400,000 gold coins. He snorted as I opened his stall. I was slightly nervous. This horse was a quarter of a million gold coins, a sum that could support one for one's entire life. For one moment I seriously considered taking another horse. Then I remembered seeing the Emperor's zoo. It was wonderful, and beautiful , and I had loved it until I had found out what kind of treatment were given to the "disobedient" animals. And to the obedient ones. Night Starr, with his yellow jewel embedded in his forehead. They were rare, and my father had received night Star from the Carthak emperor as a gift. The Tyran emperor treated his animals as good as he treated his people. A war between the people and the government was on the verge of breaking out. The pain in my ankle lashed out as I mounted the stallion. And I set out in the crisp night air.

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  
  
  


Like it so far???? Please review. There will be more!!! Sorry I didn't write much on this chapter. Anyway, plllleeeeeaaaassssseee review!!!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Default Chapter Title

  
  
  
  


First of all....................... thank you everyone who did reviews[ I ABSOLUTELY LOVE REVIEWS, but then again, who doesn't? :^) ]. I am aware that I forgot to do age/appearance thing, but when I wrote chapter 1, all I really wanted was to get it posted on the web. As for the abnormally LARGE paragraphs, I blame that on my messed up keyboard, that has a mind of its own....... hehehe. Sometimes when I push enter once, it skips like 3 lines, and sometimes it doesn't. I really need to get it fixed. So i guess ill quit with paragraphs 4 the time being. Oh well, enough with my endless chatter, ill go head and get started. :^)

  
  
  
  


~*Chapter 2*~ 

  
  
  
  


When I started out that night, I can't say I had everything really planned out. I realized I had forgotten my water canteen when it was almost dawn. I sighed, knowing I would have to stop at a near by village if I wanted water. " Villages- darn it, I knew I should of brought a map!" I said aloud. I had absolutely no sense of direction at all, and no map was even worse. Night Starr turned his head toward me. ~ You might try North. I think the village of Alcosante is there.~ 

"How would you know, your just a -WHAT DID YOU SAY?" 

I almost fell off. ~ I said, Alcosante is just north of here.~ The horse said impatiently. This must be what it's like to be dehydrated. Either that, or I had just finally lost my mind. Or the Horse might actually talk. ~ Well, you know, it might help if we actually started moving some. And by all means, keep staring at me. It does wonders for my self esteem.~ " Um, sorry." I said hastily, as Night Starr moved on. " Out of slight curiosity, why are you talking?" I asked nervously. ~ You really aren't that bright are you? Well, did it ever occur to you that you might have some sort of gift?~ " Bite your tongue! I do not have a gift, and I do not need one. Girls can't have the gift, anyway." I said this mostly out of fear, even though I would die for a gift. And if I had a gift, die I might. ~ Well, you are one weird little girl.~ " Aurelia." ~ that's the name of the disease you have? Oh, well, then that explains your behavior and everything~ " No, that's my name, not a disease!" ~oh. Sorry. So, where are we headed after this little village?~ " Tortall, I guess."~Tortall?? What's so special about Tortall?~ "They have mages who can silence talking horses." ~ What do you mean, talking horse. You're the one who talking my language, so what good would it do to silence me? And anyway....~ I sighed. I could see this was going to be a long journey. 

  
  


When we arrived in the village, the first thing I noticed was a large mob in the center of town. I stopped a woman on the streets, and asked her where the village well was. She shrugged, but pointed one long ,ancient finger to the center of town. I grimaced. I had been hoping it be some where discreet. " Stay here." I whispered to Night Starr, tying him up. ~ Do you really have to insult me by this joke of a rope? Where would I run away to?~. I ignored him, and took my spare canteen to the out skirts of the mob, where I filled the extra canteen. I looked in the center of the mob, and saw a gruesome horror that was typical these days. A hanging. Then I noticed some other odd things. First of all , the girl had blonde hair, which was extremely uncommon here. Most Tyrans had either black hair like myself, or dark brown hair. Red and blonde were almost never seen. Second thing I noticed, was that she did not have a streak of hair colored to symbolize her caste. I had been sure to tuck my streak of purple hair( high nobles caste sign) into my braid of jet black hair, and I saw most of the villagers with orange of yellow streaks. Third thing I noticed was that she was wearing pants, not a dress. And the last thing I noticed was that she looked my age- 15. I tapped a man's shoulder. " Excuse me sir, but why is she being hanged?" I asked politely. " She is a spy the emperor has sent to watch us and make sure we do obey his orders, and do not rebel against him. But not only that, she is a demon sent to us! She practices magic, and Talks to animals! She is lucky we have sighted no Spidrens, or we would give her to them! She is a Ri-shi(Tyran word for witch )!" "Thank you, sir." I said, trying to conceal the terror in my voice. Way things looked, if the villagers found out I could talk to animals, I might be the next contestant for lets-hang-a-noble game. 

I quickly walked back to Night Star. ~ What's happening over by that mob?~ Night Star asked as a stable boy poured water for him. " They're hanging a girl mage." I realized my mistake too late. The stable boy glanced at me for one moment, turned and started yelling " Ri-shi! Ri-Shi! An animal talker!" The crowd shifted it's attention to me. Night Star looked at me. I met her gaze back with green eyes, not daring to say another word to her. " Lets go!"

  
  
  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  
  
  


PLLLEEEAAASSSEEE review. 


	3. Default Chapter Title

  
  
  
  


Hello, everybody! First of all, I'd like to thank Daine, Sparrow, Siryn, Mina, Mage Melery, Eling, dreamica - moonaglow, peaches, child of shadows and ninamazing, and everyone else who have reviewed at least one of my chapters so far, and suffered through my crazed keyboard, which I finally got fixed( all right!!), and so go review their stories. Anyway, hmmmmm, lets see, what can I bore everyone with before I start chapter 3???? Oh, yes, and in response to Mina's question, I am sorry to all runaway-rogue fans, that only the run away part is true. Aurelia's not gonna be a rogue, though I must say, I love all of the rogues stories myself! Anyway, thanks everyone!!! I'll start on with chapter 3 now. Drum roll, please............................................ :^)

  
  
  
  


~*Chapter 3*~

  
  


The crowd was too fast, and they quickly grabbed me. Tying me up, they shoved me up on the plat form with the blonde girl. I stared at her. Good goddess, I certainly I hadn't expected her to be wearing breaches! Noticing me staring, the girl introduced herself. Saying some garbeled words that sounded familiar but didn't quite register yet. She stared at me, and laughed, switching to Tyran. " I'm Aleuttea. Call me Aleut." I could see why this girl was being hanged. She was stark raving mad. About to die, she was introducing herself. Suddenly, a man ran up. " I have spotted Spidrens, sir." said a young man to the lord of the village. " Feed the demons to the spidrens! It will keep us from harm, and do away with the Ri-shes! We will hit two birds with one stone!" shouted another. " what in the goddesses name is a Ree she?" asked Aleut, mostly to herself. " our word for witch." " a Ri-Shi.... it is a , a witch you tortallians would say." I said, struggling to speak English. " Hey, you speak English! Finally, someone in this place that can speak a civilized language. Do you mind telling me why in the heck We're about to be hanged?" I exploded. " You Tortallians are so full of yourselves! The Tyran empire has been around for centuries more then Tortall, so do not call us uncivilized! And you, Ki-len, are bee-ing hanged for the practicing of magica, and and a spy for the emperor, and a (authors note- switches languages here)Shokum fali de...." I began rambling the rest of my insults at her in Tyran. When I finished, she raised an eye brow. " When we get out of here, we have GOT to work on your English." I glared at her. Aleutse, or what ever her name was looked at me with sparkling purple eyes. I stared back at her with cold green ones. "Geez, what's your problem?" she asked. I ignored her, and the some village men came and grabbed us. " They will make fine sacrifices for the spidrens." Said one man, and shoved us out on the edge of the woods. " Maybe we can reason with them." I muttered in English. " I don't think so. Spidrens aren't usually reasoning. Don't really care much for bribes either." Suddenly, I was splashed by a thick, red, sticky liquid. Monkey blood. Humiliated, even as I die. Nice, these people are. 

" hold still." said the villager as he tied me to the tree, deep in the forest. " We will come back tomorrow to collect your remains." "Oh thanks. How comforting. YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH THIS! " The man shrugged, and turned back toward the village. I heard Lute, or what ever that girls name was calling out into the woods. " Call some animals, dummy! Goddess, you've almost been killed for using wild magic, and now you refuse to use it! How did I ever get stuck with you?" " Because you are an annoying, yellowed haired horse that likes to dress up as a man! You tortallians!" "Could you please quit saying that." " Quit talking to me then." I switched to calling Night Starr. Already a couple of foxes had come, and were nibbling on my ropes. Night Starr came . ~ My, my, looks like were in a tangle here.~ ^indeed they are.^ said one fox, breaking my ropes. Another horse was beside Night Starr. " Who's that?" asked Aleut, shaking free of the remains of her rope. ~ I am Night Star.~ ^ I'm moon beam.^ " That's nice for you. In the mean time,- LOOK OUT!" A spidren was scurrying toward us, fast. It hadn't taken them long to sniff out the monkey blood. " Use this. I have a sword." Aleut tossed be a bow and to me. " You don't know how to use it, do you. Well, try and figure it out." The spidren, luckily, attacked her first. I loaded the bow, and aimed carefully. I closed my eyes and shot. The creature screamed in pain. ~Whoah. Lets see you do that again.~ I took another arrow, and shot the creature with my bow, killing it completely Both arrows had gone directly to its heart. Aleut looked slightly annoyed, and pride pushed away amazement. " Pretty good, for a beginner. Anyway, lets head out before more spidrens come." I raised an eyebrow. "We, lutea, or what ever your name is?" " Goddess, No hard feelings. And the name is Aleut, not lutea. How about it? I can get you to tortall." " Who said I was ever going to Tortall?" " I'm assuming, that's all. I need your help to get back to my country, and you need help getting into Tortall. I don't speak your little language, so I can't get out of this country without you, but you will never get along well by yourself in Tortall. So how about it?" " You have said how about it at least for the thousandth time." " Yeah, and your answer is....." I sighed. " I suppose."

  
  


Aleut wasted no time getting us out of the forest. She was confident that we could reach the coast line in just a few days. I pointed out that we had no boat, no money, and nothing to trade. She shrugged her shoulders, and said it would all work out. That's something you should know about Aleut. But finally, we were almost there, 1 day from the coast line. We were camping out in the woods.

" Are you sure this is the best place to camp out?" she asked me. " OF course I am. I saw no spidrens at all, not even a trace of one. Hurroks aren't in this part of Tyra, and stormwings we'll just have to take our chances. Anyway, last night you made camp in a ant pile." " that was a pure accident!" " Tell my feet that. IF you didn't have Hickini magic, I think I would kill you. I have ant bites that would of left scars if not for your magic!" " What exactly is Hickini magic?" "I think you call it.... healer? NO, healing! Yes, that's it. You tortallians!" " Stop saying that." " Saying what?" "You tortallians." " speaking of Tortall, I've been meaning to ask you. Why are you dressing up as a boy? Is it part of your disguise?" Aleut laughed out loud. " Listen, 'Relia, This isn't a disguise. This is what any woman who wants to wear something comfortable wears. It's normal." Aleut said. I looked at her skeptically. " Seriously, their comfortable. Here, I have an extra pair. You wouldn't have to side saddle all the time, and we could move a lot faster." " And lose my dignity, and my respect, along with my life? Just to look like a stormwing in a pair of pants? Frankly, that's okay. You can keep your extra pair." " Goddess, Aurelia, what kind of life do you have? You can't practice magic, you can't wear breeches, your killed for doing anything fun. what can you do?" " Nothing. Unless you really like sewing." " Good Goddess, I can see why you want to get out of this country! It's a living nightmare! My mother, I tell you, would have a living fit, and turn this whole country upside down!" " why would she want to come here in the first place? We're on the brink of a civil war." " No surprise. Hey, what's that?" I looked out into the woods. " I see nothing. You're imagination is probably running back again, I mean off." Just the same, I scanned the woods. ~ I don't like this.~ said Night Starr. " No, really, I love being scared to death." I said sarcastically. Suddenly hard, cold metal was pressed against my neck. " Freeze." 

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


To be continued........ so, have I destroyed my plot yet? Hopefully not. Anyway, I will probably get to chapter 4 later this weekend. Have I left everyone hanging? And, as always, PLEASE REVIEW!!! :)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Default Chapter Title

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  
  
  
  
  


Helllllllllloooooooo everybody!!!!!! I hope everyone is doing well...... and I am devestated about the fact that I have no idle chatter to torture you all with ( I think up of cruel and unusual punishments like this all the time.......) Anyway, I will spare you all and get on with chapter 3.........which is gonna be the hundredth story posted, and my fourth. And as several people have complained, I happen to have nonexistent paragraphs, and I admit, I REALLY, REALLY HATE PARAGRAPHS!!! but for the sake of you all, try and bear with me here. If my paragraphs drive you to the edge of insanity, don't leave any more notes about PARAGRAPHS! Its driving me INSANE!!!!! just the same( if I haven't scared you off this page yet), I will truly, really, start my story now. So ladies and gentle men(out of slight curiosity, are their any gentlemen here? Just wondering.....) I now present you chapter 4!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**_*~CHAPTER 4~*_**

  
  


Of course I was immediately frightened, two young girls surrounded by 10 burly men. Aleut was completely oblivious to what they were saying, but she understood the meaning of a knife when it was held to your throat.

"Now be quick about it, and lets see your money." 

Thieves? On the edge of the Alkali coast? Suddenly it came to me who they were. Pirates. I gulped, and said in Tyrainian:

  
  


" We don't have any _Hakrem_" 

" Aye, and you expect me to believe a tale like that? I don't think so girly. Lessee your _Hakrem_" 

" What do they want?" whispered Aleut, shifting nervously. 

" Money. I told them we don't have any. They don't believe us. Do you have any ...pocket change?"

" Is this absolutely necessary?" she asked me.

" OF COURSE IT IS! YOU'RE LIFE IS ON THE LINE! THEY'LL SLIT OUR THROATS FOR THE PURE FUN OF IT IF WE DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY! TORTALLIANS!" 

She glared at me, and avoiding my glare, reached in her pocket and pulled out a bulging bag of jewels. My eyes bulged. No one that was my age of fifteen had I ever seen carry so much money. 

  
  


" good geerl. Perhaps since you treat us so kindly, we will kill you off fast." 

" hey ZeeKEm ( authors note: capitals are part of this guys name.), they have nice horses ! Shall we keep them?" 

" but of course." 

The word horses is _horce_ in Tyrainian, which is pretty similar in English to horse, and that was when I lost it.

  
  


" LOOK _KERRAF LA FEM,_( authors note: extremely offensive insult in Tyra) YOU MAY TAKE OUR MONEY, YOU MAY TAKE MY PRIDE, BUT YOU ARE NOT TAKING MY HORSE!" 

His eyes narrowed. " You little.........." he started toward me. I glanced wildly about. Aleut's sword. I grabbed it and prayed to the gods. I could pretend I could hold a sword and hope this guy would never turn me in for handling " mens tools" if he ever got caught. He took out his own sword. I suddenly became aware that this was my first time holding a sword and I might not be as lucky as I liked to think I was. So I used the only weapon I've ever been aloud to use. MY tongue. 

"NOW, ALEUT!"

ZeeKEm whirled around, probably realizing his mistake as he made it. I knocked him out with my sword, to worried what to do if I drew blood. I quickly checked his caste. Good. Not even a lord. Only a orange streak. Nine other men stared at us like we had four eyes. Aleut ran to our horses, and hopped on hers. 

  
  


" I don't think so Missee." 

Aleut closed her eyes for a moment, and for a quick second I was scared she was going to faint and leave me to fend for myself. That was only for a minute then, because suddenly a Spidren came scurrying out of the wood. The men forgot about us and turned on the spidren. 

" What are you waiting for, Aure? Get on, before they figure out the spidren's not real."

  
  


I didn't question her motives for the time being, and galloped quickly through the woods. We didn't stop till we had reached the coast the next day. After resting for awhile, I got up, and said.

  
  


" I'm going to go to one of the nearby villages, kay? I want to see if there's any kind of boat and guide to hire." 

Aleut snorted.

" No offense Aure, but do you really expect for us to go sailing along the ocean by ourselves? In this country, is it even allowed? I'm going to try and send a message to Tortall, and tell my parents to get me out of this awful country."

" You won't be able to. No contact with Tortall is allowed. The emperor is worried that you'll influence us to rebel even more..."

" You need to rebel! And how in the heck am I going to get back to Tortall?"

" Why are you here in the first place? Did your parents just decide to let you come over here all by your happy little self so you could have no fun in a country that is on the verge of a civil war?"

" Please don't be sarcastic."

" And how did you call the spidren anyway?"

" I didn't call it. I conjured it up. First thing I thought of. Anyway, lets go to a village and try and figure out a plan."

~ I suppose this means I'm going too.~ Night Star said gloomily. I ignored him, and we quickly rode to the nearest village. I made sure my purple streak of hair was carefully concealed. Aleut noticed it, and asked me

" Why is your hair purple anyway?"

" It symbolizes my caste."

" I mean, is it natural?"

" No, when you're born in this country, a mage comes and dyes it for you. The dye never wears out and can never be changed. I'm from the royal court, and if these people know that, It will be the spidren episode all over again."

  
  


I tapped a middle aged woman on the shoulder. 

" excuse me, can you tell me where I might find the next boat due at this boat?"

She pointed at a small hut. I thanked her and went toward it. A man stood outside. I handed him one piece of gold ( stolen from the thieves) and walked in. Always wanted a bribe. A small, bent over old man greeted me. 

" welcome, my child. You come seeking news about a port, a ship, other sea news?" 

" Sir, I have a rather big favor to ask you. You see, my friend here, is obviously Tortallian. And she and I need to get their as soon as possible. Is there any way?"

" First of all, why is your friend over here in the first place?"

  
  


I asked Aleut. She blushed and said

" I got on the wrong ship. I was supposed to go to the copper islands, but instead I ended up here...."

I repeated her answer to the old man. 

" Weeel, illegal things against the great emperor are usually not my thing. But I like your horse. Your straw haired friend's horse, that is. A trade, my lady? You are quite far from the royal court." 

I blushed, and quickly tucked my strand of hair back in and silently scolded myself. 

He outstretched his hand and held it out to me. 

" A deal, my lady?" 

I shook his hand firmly.

" A deal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

oooooooooooooooo, I finished chapter four! Have I completely ruined my story yet? Hopefully not(I can't help I'm self concious.) PLEASE REVIEW!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Default Chapter Title

  
  
  
  
  
  


Hello, everybody!!!! It's time for another one of my famous boring talk! I really should start a column, but my computer genius( sarcasm, if your dense) side won't let me figure out how, and besides that, I'd probably lose interest and end up blabbering just like I'm doing now. I thank you all for doing reader reviews, the happy joyful little things they are. I would also like to say, since there was a lot of confusion, Aleut also has a dull, boring little horse that I decided to sell just to get rid of it. I am not HEARTLESS enough to sell Night Starr, Aurel 'would never let me do that( these characters rule my life!) Anyway, onto chapter 5......................

  
  
  
  


*~ Chapter 5 ~*

  
  
  
  


" You really aren't used to sea travel, are you?" I asked a vomiting Aleut. She groaned and went back into the cabin. I sighed. It had been like that for several weeks. I had traveled a lot to Cathark, so I was used to the boat's rocking, while my Tortallian friend was not. Night Starr was down in the steerage, so I was completely on my own. I went back inside my cabin and spread a map out. Currently, we were in the emerald sea, near the Copper islands. The ship was headed for Corus, and there was no other detour. Better then nothing, I supposed. I didn't really want to go there, for Corus is known for its thieves, and after sunset one had to watch there purse. So many girls and boys alike ran away there to be thieves, it was remarkable. Had said the Emperor last time I went to court, we should be proud of our nation, for Tyra is full of honest and talented people. As well as poor and starving. I shivered. It was slowly getting colder. I tapped one of the sailors on the shoulder.

" yes, My lady?" 

" How soon will we be in Tortall?" 

" In about 3 or 4 days my lady. Due to the winds and high waves though, We'll be stopping in one of the Copper island ports."

" Can't we continue? It doesn't look that bad. My friend and I are kind of in a hurry."

" Red sky in morning, sailors take warning. Wind is still, bad is yet to fulfil." He said, quoting an age old adage. 

" sir, I don't mean to be rude, but the sky's perfectly clear. There is absolutely no way a storm could be coming." 

He ignored me, as most Tyranian men do when they simply don't want to talk anymore. I got fed up trying to reason with him, and stayed in my cabin until we reached the port. Immediately a vile smell came into the air of rotting fish and whiskey. Several drunks were staggering around. 

" This is the port?" 

Aleut said skeptically. 

" Apparently it is. Come on, we might as well see what we can do here. We'll be here all night." 

It was a fishing town, with basically a couple of taverns and some houses. A tiny town it was, but even the bums looked slightly better off then the average peasant in my country. I walked into the tavern to see if I could locate a scribe. The tavern maid shook her head. 

  
  


" No dearie, ya won't find any of that sort here. If ye look around and ask some, ya might be able to find someone with a quill and paper. You look like ya don't need a scribe. But ain't this a grand city? Yah, it may be small, but a grand city in da making. Care for a drink dearie? It'll be on the house." 

In Tyra, Children of noble familys start drinking wine at young ages to improve the heart muscle. Besides that, it was a delicacy. I peered into her cup. It was whiskey, with a hair floating in it, and didn't look like the most appetizing thing in the world. 

" Thank you, but I've got to go."

I quickly hurried back outside to Aleut, who was reading the notices on the board. " It doesn't say anything about a scribe. 

"Damn it! My parents are going to have a heart attack when they find out what I've been doing all this time! My father's going to assume I've been kidnaped, my mother's going to think I've become rebellious and decided to run away, and my siblings probably think I'm dead." "Well, why don't you just go get some more JEWELS." I said, in a I-demand-a-explanation voice. " Those were all I had." I rolled my eyes. Some people were so dense. " I mean, where does a fifteen year old girl get about a gigantic bulging bag of jewels by herself?It seems like pretty heavy pocket change. I'd say you were a princess, but you would of never left undetected otherwise, or I'd say you were an extremely powerful mage, but somehow I don't think your either of those two."

She sighed, and lowered her purple eyes. 

" Well, you see, I kind of stole them while I was in Tyra." 

I raised an eyebrow.

" Well, it was in that little village we got caught in. This old guy was carrying a pouch of jewels, and I figured what did he need them for anyway, and I was planning to buy some food with them, and HEY!" I pushed Aleut hard, and she hit the dirt floor. I kicked her hard, several times. 

" Don't you ever do something like that to my people again. And if you do, don't you dare tell me about it. They're may be some people in Tyra I am not proud of, but you do not steal from my people. And if you stole from that village we were in, I will have you know that those people do not dream of riches, they dream of watching their children go to bed without a starving stomach. They dream of freedom, or a day where they do not have to work in the rice fields. I have half a mind to leave you in this city, you spoiled little rich _Kapoe_!" 

I said cooly. Aleut jumped up, and brushed the dirt off her pants. 

" Why do you have to get so mad? I said I was sorry. I'm not proud of what I did. You have to see my side of the story---- my father's a thief. Pretty big one, him being the king and all. I was raised this way." 

I ignored her, and marched straight back to the boat. 

" Wait, Aure! Please, I have something to show you! Be mad at me after this." 

Reluctantly I waited a moment for her to catch up. 

" My name is also Aurelia. Not Aure."

She shoved a parchment in my face. There was a picture of me on it. 

" Looks like your wanted in several different countries."

  
  


I quickly read it.

  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Wanted: Lady Aurelia De Conoce Li the second. A runaway from the capital city, Tyra. She is a Juna(authors note- highest caste, the purple streak hair thing), has hazel eyes and black hair. Last seen in Lightning palace, home of Lord_ _Slannen De Conoce Li the first, the Emperor's royal advisor and companion. Lord Li has offered 5,000 gold pieces for her return, Lord Daniel_ of _Trescon offers 1,000, and The imperial Emperor offers 10,000 gold pieces for her return."_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
